Tray for refrigerator

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a tray for a refrigerator. The tray of the present invention comprises a central boss provided on an inner surface of a refrigerator door, and a press plate of which one end is rotatably installed to the central boss and the other end tends to turn around the boss in a direction in which it is brought into close contact with the inner surface of the door. In such a case, a tray recess larger than the press plate is formed on the inner surface of the door so that the press plate can be positioned within the tray recess. Further, the press plate includes a rotary shaft which is rotatably installed to the boss and is provided with an elastic member mounted thereto such that a first end of the elastic member is supported on a predetermined position on the inner surface of the door and a second end of the elastic member is supported on a portion of the press plate, thereby allowing the press plate to elastically move in the direction in which it is brought into close contact with the inner surface of the door.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention relates to a refrigerator, and moreparticularly, to a tray for a refrigerator capable of securely storingarticles in an inner surface of a door for opening and closing a storagespace of the refrigerator.

[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art

[0004]FIG. 1 shows a front view of an interior configuration of arelated art refrigerator in a state where its doors are opened.Referring to FIG. 1, a refrigerating chamber 20 is defined at an upperportion in a main body 10 of the refrigerator. A plurality of shelves 22are installed at a predetermined vertical interval within therefrigerating chamber 20 which is divided into a plurality of spaces bythe shelves.

[0005] The refrigerating chamber 20 is selectively opened and closed bya door 30 for the refrigerating chamber. A gasket 32 is attached to aninner surface of the door 30 at a position that is brought into closecontact with a front surface of the main body 10 of the refrigeratorcorresponding to an opening of the refrigerating chamber 20. The gasket32 prevents cold air from leaking from the refrigerating chamber 20 whenthe door 30 is closed. A plurality of baskets 34 for storingrefrigerating foods are installed at the inner surface of the door 30where the gasket 32 is surrounded along an edge thereof.

[0006] A freezing chamber 40 is formed at a lower portion in the mainbody 10 of the refrigerator, and at least a storage container 42 in theform of a drawer is also installed in the freezing chamber 40. Thestorage container 42 is slide in and out from the freezing chamber 40 inthe same manner as a drawer so that the stored articles can be put intoand taken out from the storage container.

[0007] The freezing chamber 40 is selectively opened and closed by adoor 50 for the freezing chamber which is hinged to the main body 10 ofthe refrigerator. A gasket 52 for preventing cold air from leaking fromthe freezing chamber is also attached to an inner surface of the door 50along an edge of the inner surface of the door 50 so that it can bebrought into close contact with a front surface of the main body 10 ofthe refrigerator.

[0008] However, a tray structure in the aforementioned related artrefrigerator has the following problems.

[0009] Even though a user opens the door 50 for the freezing chamber,the user cannot view the interior of the storage container 42. To seethe articles stored in the storage container 42, therefore, there isinconvenience in that the user must take out the storage container 42from the freezing chamber 40.

[0010] Furthermore, since the storage container 42 provided in thefreezing chamber 40 occupies a certain degree of space in the freezingchamber 40, the space in the freezing chamber 40 is relatively reduced.In addition, if some baskets 34 are to be installed at the inner surfaceof the freezing chamber door 50 in the same manner as in therefrigerating chamber door 30, the space in the storage container 42 inwhich the articles can be stored is too extremely reduced. For thesereasons, a space defined between the inner surface of the freezingchamber door 50 and the storage container 42 has never been utilizeduntil now. Therefore, there is a need to efficiently utilize the spacecorresponding to the inner surface of the freezing chamber door 50.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0011] Accordingly, the present invention is conceived to solve theabove problems in the related art. An object of the present invention isto provide a tray for a refrigerator capable of easily confirming storedarticles.

[0012] Another object of the present invention is to provide a tray fora refrigerator by which a storage space with a storage contained in theform of a drawer provided therein can be more efficiently utilized.

[0013] According to an aspect of the present invention for achieving theabove objects, there is provided a tray for a refrigerator, comprising acentral boss provided on an inner surface of a refrigerator door, and apress plate of which one end is rotatably installed to the central bossand the other end tends to turn around the boss in a direction in whichit is brought into close contact with the inner surface of the door.

[0014] Preferably, a tray recess larger than the press plate is formedon the inner surface of the door so that the press plate can bepositioned within the tray recess.

[0015] Preferably, the press plate includes a rotary shaft which isrotatably installed to the boss and is provided with an elastic membermounted thereto such that a first end of the elastic member is supportedon a predetermined position on the inner surface of the door and asecond end of the elastic member is supported on a portion of the pressplate, thereby allowing the press plate to elastically move in thedirection in which it is brought into close contact with the innersurface of the door.

[0016] Preferably, the press plate further includes an elastic supportbar on which the second end of the elastic member is supported.

[0017] Further, the press plate may be manufactured by connecting aplurality of wires with one another.

[0018] Preferably, the press plate is made of transparent syntheticresin.

[0019] Preferably, the boss is provided in a mounting recess which isconnected with the tray recess and covered by a cover.

[0020] In addition, a stopper for regulating a turning degree of thepress plate may be further provided in the mounting recess.

[0021] Furthermore, the press plate may include a grip which is mountedat a side opposite to the one end of the press plate.

[0022] According to the present invention, there are advantages in thatthe storage space including the inner surface of the door can beefficiently and positively utilized through the tray for therefrigeration and the articles stored in the tray can also be easilyconfirmed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0023] The above and other objects, features and advantages of thepresent invention will become apparent from the following description ofa preferred embodiment given in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

[0024]FIG. 1 is a front view showing an internal configuration of arelated art refrigerator;

[0025]FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a main configuration of arefrigerator to which an embodiment of a tray according to the presentinvention is applied;

[0026]FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing a detailedconfiguration of the tray according to the embodiment of the presentinvention; and

[0027]FIG. 4 is a perspective showing a state where the tray accordingto the embodiment of the present invention is employed.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0028] Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of a tray for a refrigeratoraccording to the present invention will be described in detail withreference to the accompanying drawings.

[0029]FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the configuration of arefrigerator to which a tray for a refrigerator according to thepreferred embodiment of the present invention is applied, and FIG. 3 isan exploded perspective view of the detailed configuration of the trayaccording to the embodiment of the present invention.

[0030] Referring to these figures, a freezing chamber 110 serving as astorage space is defined at one side of a main body 100 of therefrigerator. A plurality of storage containers 112 in the form of adrawer are installed in the freezing chamber 110 so that articles can beseparately stored in the storage containers. In this embodiment of thepresent invention, three storage containers 112 are arranged verticallythroughout the interior of the freezing chamber 110.

[0031] The freezing chamber 110 is selectively opened and closed by adoor 120. The door 120 is hinged to the main body 100 of therefrigerator at both upper and lower portions on one side end thereof sothat it can be opened and closed. When the freezing chamber 110 isclosed, an inner surface of the door 120 is brought into close contactwith a front surface of the main body 100 of the refrigeratorcorresponding to an opening of the freezing chamber 110. At this time,to prevent cold air from leaking from the freezing chamber 110, a gasket122 is provided at an edge on the inner surface of the door 120, i.e. apredetermined portion that is brought into close contact with the frontsurface of the main body 100 of the refrigerator.

[0032] At least a tray recess 124 is formed on the inner surface of thedoor 120. The tray recess 124 is formed in an inner area that is definedby the gasket 122 provided along the edge of the inner surface of thedoor 120. In this embodiment, two tray recesses 124 are provided.

[0033] As viewed from the inner surface of the door 120, an additionalmounting recess 125 is formed below the tray recess 124 on the innersurface of the door. The mounting recess 125 is formed below the trayrecess 124 to have a width relatively smaller than that of the trayrecess and corresponds to a space in which a structure for mounting apress plate 130 to be explained later on the door 120 is provided.

[0034] The press plate 130 is provided in the tray recess 124. The pressplate 130 is generally shaped as a rectangle and configured to have arectangular frame wire 132 of which opposite sides are coupled with aplurality of connection wires 133. Since the frame wire 132 and theconnection wires 133 have a predetermined diameter, they are not easilybent even though an external force is exerted thereon.

[0035] The maximum area of the press plate 130 is slightly less than thearea of the tray recess 124. Preferably, the press plate 130 isconfigured such that its area is a half of the area of the tray recess124. Such a configuration can be easily seen from the tray recess 124and the press plate 130 that are illustrated in a lower portion of FIG.2.

[0036] A rotary shaft 135 is provided at a lower end of the press plate130 and has its opposite bent ends that are connected to the frame wire132. An elastic support bar 136 is provided between the opposite bentends of the rotary shaft 135 so that the opposite bent ends can beconnected with each other. In the embodiment, the elastic support bar136 is installed in parallel with the rotary shaft 135, but it is notnecessarily limited thereto. Alternatively, one side of the frame wire132 may be used instead of the rotary shaft 135.

[0037] An elastic member 138 is installed on the rotary shaft 135 of thepress plate 130. It is preferred that the elastic member 138 be atorsion spring. The rotary shaft 135 penetrates through the elasticmember 138 of which a first end 138 a is supported on a predeterminedposition on the inner surface of the door 120 and the other second end138 b is supported on the elastic support bar 136. Due to the elasticmember 138, an upper end of the press plate 130 tends to move into thetray recess 124.

[0038] A pair of the elastic member 138 may be installed such that thewhole press plate 130 can be accurately and securely seated into thetray recess 124. The second end 138 b of the elastic member 138 can besupported on a portion of the frame wire 132 other than the elasticsupport bar 136.

[0039] A grip 139 is provided at a portion of the frame wire 132corresponding to the upper end of the press plate 130. The grip 139 is aportion that a user grasps with his/her hand when pulling out the pressplate 130 from the tray recess 124. For example, the grip 139 ispreferably made of a slightly elastic material, because it is broughtinto close contact with an inner surface of the tray recess 124 or theexterior of the stored articles s due to an elastic force from theelastic member 138.

[0040] A central boss 140 for rotatably supporting the rotary shaft 135is provided in the mounting recess 125. In the embodiment, two centralbosses 140 are arranged in a line. The rotary shaft 135 is installedinto a through-hole that is formed by penetrating through the centralboss 140 in an axial direction of the shaft.

[0041] A variety of configurations for installing the rotary shaft 135through the central boss 140 can be employed. For example, in a casewhere the central boss 140 is integrally formed with the inner surfaceof the door 120, the boss 140 is configured such that the rotary shaft135 can be inserted into the boss through a slit that is formed on theboss and has a width smaller than the diameter of the rotary shaft 135.On the other hand, in a case where the central boss 140 is separatelymanufactured and then assembled onto the inner surface of the door, theboss is installed on the mounting recess 125 so that an opened portionthereof faces the mounting recess.

[0042] A cover 150 is used to prevent the interior of the mountingrecess 125 from being seen from the outside. The cover 150 has the samearea as that of the mounting recess 125 such that it can cover themounting recess 125. To fix the cover 150 to the mounting recess 125, aconfiguration for coupling the cover 150 with the mounting recess 125 ispreferably provided at a predetermined position where they come intocontact with each other.

[0043] Furthermore, although it has not been illustrated in thesefigures, a stopper for preventing the press plate 130 from coming outtoo excessively from the tray recess 124 may be provided. That is, asviewed from the inner surface of the door, additional stoppers areinstalled at both sides of an opening of the mounting recess 125 so thatthe press plate 130 is caught on the stoppers so as not to coming outfurther from the mounting recess 125.

[0044] Hereinafter, an operation of the tray for the refrigeratoraccording to the present invention so constructed will be described.

[0045] The press plate 130 is usually kept in a state where an upperportion thereof, i.e. the grip 139 of the plate 130 is brought intoclose contact with the inner surface of the tray recess 124 due to theelastic force from the elastic member 138. In such a state, a user canstore the articles s in the tray of the present invention by merelypulling out the upper portion of the press plate 130.

[0046] When the user pulls out the press plate 130, the press plate 130is turned outwardly around the rotary shaft 135 against the elasticforce from the elastic member 138 so that a gap can be produced betweenthe press plate 130 and the tray recess 124.

[0047] At this time, the user can simply store the articles s by merelyinserting the articles into the gap produced between the press plate 130and the tray recess 124. If the user releases the press plate 130 afterinserting the articles s between the press plate 130 and the tray recess124, the press plate 130 tends to return into the tray recess 124 due toa restoring force from the elastic member 138.

[0048] Therefore, the press plate 130 can bring the stored articles sinto close contact with the tray recess 124. As a result, the storedarticles s can be held in the tray recess 124 by means of the pressplate 130, as shown in FIG. 4.

[0049] For reference, the tray of the present invention can beadvantageously used to store relatively flat articles s therein. Thatis, the press plate 130 can be used to store the articles s that may notprotrude too excessively from the inner surface of the door 120.

[0050] If the press plate 130 is turned outwardly too excessively fromthe tray recess 124 and then returns abruptly to its original position,the tray recess 124 may be damaged by means of the press plate 130.However, such a phenomenon can be avoided due to the stopper forpreventing the press plate 130 from being turned to a certain extent.

[0051] Although the present invention has been described in connectionwith a specific preferred embodiment of the present invention, it is notlimited thereto. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art thatvarious substitutions, modifications and changes may be made theretowithout departing from the scope and spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A tray for a refrigerator, comprising: a centralboss provided on an inner surface of a refrigerator door; and a pressplate of which one end is rotatably installed to the central boss andthe other end tends to turn around the boss in a direction in which itis brought into close contact with the inner surface of the door.
 2. Thetray as claimed in claim 1, wherein a tray recess larger than the pressplate is formed on the inner surface of the door so that the press platecan be positioned within the tray recess.
 3. The tray as claimed inclaim 2, wherein the press plate includes a rotary shaft which isrotatably installed to the boss and is provided with an elastic membermounted thereto such that a first end of the elastic member is supportedon a predetermined position on the inner surface of the door and asecond end of the elastic member is supported on a portion of the pressplate, thereby allowing the press plate to elastically move in thedirection in which it is brought into close contact with the innersurface of the door.
 4. The tray as claimed in claim 3, wherein thepress plate further includes an elastic support bar on which the secondend of the elastic member is supported.
 5. The tray as claimed in claim2, wherein the press plate is manufactured by connecting a plurality ofwires with one another.
 6. The tray as claimed in claim 2, wherein thepress plate is made of transparent synthetic resin.
 7. The tray asclaimed in claim 1, wherein the boss is provided in a mounting recesswhich is connected with the tray recess and covered by a cover.
 8. Thetray as claimed in claim 7, wherein a stopper for regulating a turningdegree of the press plate is further provided in the mounting recess. 9.The tray as claimed in claim 1, wherein the press plate includes a gripwhich is mounted at a side opposite to the one end of the press plate.